Month: November 2011

November 20, 2011

Q&A with Ina Parvanova

This is the third installment in our series of highlighting PSEngage Speakers.

Ina Parvanova Public Affairs Director, at Mayo Clinic has extensive experience working in a fast paced environment. Ina started her career as a reporter, working for Reuters and Canadian Press. In 1998, Ina joined the Public Service and spent a number of years at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada before joining the Privy Council Office where she was responsible for the international communications files.

In 2008, Mayo Clinic recruited Ina to establish its Research Communications function to support $540 million in research operations at Mayo Clinic. Ina is currently part of two leadership teams. One is a reflection of Mayo’s new strategy to make a global impact in healthcare called Global Bridges – a Healthcare Alliance for Tobacco Dependence Treatment. The other is statewide effort called Decade of Discovery: A Minnesota Partnership to Defeat Diabetes.

November 19, 2011

PS Engage 2011 Free Webcast

On November 22, 2011 from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, All the plenary events from the conference will be webcast live from the Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.

This means you can catch almost all the content from your desktop, see the program for details, We will be capturing the video and at some point will likely make it available after the event.

If you want to catch it live, go here http://max.canwebcast.net/psengage

To test your connection before the event use the test site at: http://max.canwebcast.net/200

You can ask questions and contribute using the participate button or on twitter at #PSE2011.

See you there!

November 17, 2011

Storytelling at the heart of citizen engagement: @PSengage 2011 Preview from Alan Silberberg

How you tell the story of something whether your best friend’s recent golf incident – or the introduction of a new paradigm into an old channel matters. It matters more and more so in the instant gratification and short time frame attention span economy. How our brains process information now is based on how fast does it answer basic questions. If you cannot tell the story of why something should be done using outside references then figure out how to tell the story using those from inside.

Time matters. People’s time matters the more that you are demanding they contemplate either large expenditures or something technical in nature or both. If you can tell the story in a simple to understand, bite size version, you are more likely to get a buy-in from skeptical management or budget conscious bean counters.

So frame your story as if you were sitting around a family dinner table. Keep it simple. Use basic language. Sure you can let loose with fancy nomenclature and or highly technical terms to show you know your stuff. But – relate it to the here and now, why is something practical, applicable and affordable at this period in time? Tell the story of other Government agencies doing what you propose. Tell the story of successful wins from the actions you seek.

There will be more in the PS Engage talk, but this is the basic outline of what I am addressing in Ottawa on November 22, 2011.

Alan Silberberg